Mark Glover's blog includes reviews of the latest motor vehicles introduced for sale in the United States, his take on various aspects of the auto industry and periodic insights on auto racing at home and abroad.

Friday, April 25, 2014

Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews also can be seen on the Business
page of TheSacramentoBee’s website –via the “GALLERY: Reviews of new
cars” link atwww.sacbee.com/business

Sacramento, California – OK, I’m reviewing a Lexus
vehicle for the second time in as many weeks, but lookit, put yourself in my
position.

Someone walks up to you and says: “Hey, want to drive my new
Lexus for a week?” … The appropriate response is not: “Oh, no thanks, I’ll
stick with my 1999 pickup.”

That would be especially gauche if the offered Lexus is the
seven-passenger GX 460 sport-utility vehicle.

Here’s what you need to know about the GX:Lexus makes a very popular, sensibly-sized,
comparatively low-priced RX sport-ute.But when you opt for the GX, you’re saying that you want to step up higher on the luxury ladder, and you don’t mind paying for that.

My tester was so refined that luxury was actually part of
its name – a 2014 Lexus GX 460 Luxury.That’s the most expensive of three GX trim levels, starting at
$60,715.My ride was just slightly
pricier with a addition of a kickin’ Mark Levinson primo audio system.

It takes time to learn how to use and control all the
techno-laden perks, so I advise taking the GX 460 out for a drive before diving
into the Tolstoy novel-length owner’s manual.

On the fly, you’ll be treated to serene steering and an
amazing level of interior cabin quietness.

You almost feel guilty speaking up – sort of like being in
an old-school library – because the sound-killing technology devours most of
the excess noise before it reaches the cabin.

Power comes from a 4.6-liter, 301-horsepower V-8, a sizable
engine with variable valve timing.It
dishes up power smoothly, so smoothly that you can find yourself going 80 miles
per hour before you realize it.

Yes, this is the downside of a quiet cabin and a smooth
ride.Well, it’s the downside if you
happen to blow by the Highway Patrol at 80 mph-plus.

The big-brute power plant churns up cringe-inducing fuel
mileage numbers of 15 miles per gallon in the city and 20 mpg on the highway.But once again, keep the target audience of
this luxury SUV in mind … The monthly gasoline bill is not likely something
keeping the typical GX 460 buyer up at night.

Exterior styling is fairly conservative, but I must say the
tester looked pretty imposing riding high on those 18-inch alloy wheels.

Overall, this GX 460 is top-level transportation for the
economically fortunate set, and I, for one, enjoyed every minute of my week in
the vehicle.

Friday, April 18, 2014

Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews also can be
seen on the Business page of TheSacramentoBee’s website– via the “GALLERY: Reviews of new
cars” link at www.sacbee.com/business

Sacramento,
California – Before telling you a
little about the tested 2014 Lexus ES 300h sedan, I’d like to say a few words
about brakes.

The ES hybrid luxury car I was driving had a four-wheel
anti-lock braking system bolstered by electronic brakeforce distribution and a
brake-assist system, not the kinds of things you normally think about … until
you are forced to make an all-out panic stop.

For me, it had been awhile since I had been forced to do
such a thing.I like to think of myself
as a driver who specializes in anticipation, seeing things develop in front of
me before they happen.

But on a recent commute home, the perfect storm occurred
right in front of my ES 300h’s bumper.It was the classic crowded freeway crash set-up.Everybody going around 65 mph in three lanes with
the extreme left lane tapering down to an exit-only lane.Naturally, you have idiots who use the
exit-only lane as a launch ramp to cut right into high-speed traffic at the
last moment.That’s what happened in front of me on this particular day, a driver ripping to the right in front
of the car that was in front of me, at the VERY last fraction of a second.

Even as I was smashing the brake and hearing the staccato
sound of the anti-lock braking system exerting itself, I had one clear thought
in my mind: There is no way to avoid the high-speed crash I’m about to be
involved in.

And yet, the Lexus did avoid it.Stopped on a dime.With a foot to spare.Not a scratch on the Lexus, or me.

Naturally, this being a Lexus sedan, there was a lot of
everything else – luxury, numerous comfort/convenience features, a super-smooth
ride, interior cabin quietness and much, much more.

Lexus aimed to make a statement in the hybrid luxury passenger
car niche with this creation, and here’s the statement: 40 miles per gallon in
the city and 39 mpg on the highway.

Keeping in mind that the 2014 ES 300h starts at $39,350 and
my ride was dressed up with another $8,000 or so of extras, it’s good to know
you’re catching a break at the gas pumps with those mileage numbers.

And yet, the ES 300h doesn’t rob you of power when you need
it.The “Hybrid Synergy Drive” powertrain system
combines a 2.5-liter, four-cylinder engine with a high-output electric motor to
produce a total system horsepower rating of 200.I found the car surprisingly responsive as
hybrids go.

And it looks pretty nice too, with air-cutting aerodynamic
smoothness bumper to bumper, with just enough side sculpting to add that Lexus dash
of class.

The sedans myriad luxury features will keep buyers nose-deep
in the owner’s manual for weeks at a time, not a bad thing when you’re learning
to enjoy the perks of your new ride.The
high-tech light show on the car’s front end is a blast to watch as well.

Friday, April 11, 2014

Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews
also can be seen on the Business page of The Sacramento Bee’s website – via the “GALLERY:
Reviews of new cars” link at www.sacbee.com/business

This review originally appeared in the March
2014 edition of theNorthern
& Central California Cruisin’ Newspublished out of Folsom,
California – mg

Sacramento, California – Not that
long ago, I would have said it was impossible for Hyundai to build a car that
was anything close to the 2014 Equus sedan.

I can now say without shame that the
recently tested 2014 Equus Ultimate is every bit the player you would find
wearing the badges of Acura, Lexus or Mercedes-Benz.Incredible, but true.

For the record, it’s priced like one
of those luxo-laden autos.My ride had a
bottom line of $68,920.And I can tell
you with a straight, cold-sober face that the lofty price is absolutely
justified.

Standard features?I’m talking about electronic active front
head restraints, a digital heads-up readout that shows vehicle speed and the
presence of cars rolling close to your left and right rear bumpers, a smart
cruise control system with auto stop/start technology, LED turn signal indicators,
a parking-assistance system linked to a rearview camera, premium leather
surfaces throughout the cockpit, a heated steering wheel with leather-and-wood
trim and a primo navigation system, including cemeteries marked by a tombstone
icon.Love that last part.

Keep in mind that this is the VERY
short list of the goodies.It’s a
remarkable package for a South Korean automaker formerly known as an exporter of
automobiles that were little better than shell-covered roller skates.

The exterior look is classy-sporty,
with the sporty side getting a major bump from are-you-kidding-me 19-inch,
turbine-blade polished silver wheels.My
tester drew crowds when parked.It was
that alluring.

On the fly, a 5-liter, the 429-horsepower
V-8 dished out power and performance in ever-pleasing doses under the command
of my right foot.Power was not
necessarily rip-roaring but smoothly spread out like spilled honey.Most four-wheel pretenders simply fell off
when I asked the Equus for full power during freeway commutes.

And yet, cockpit noise was
minimal.In-car conversations that can
be heard among five people with plenty of room to spread out.Simple pleasures there, but kind of hard to
find in full-size sedans today.Kudos to
Hyundai engineers.

Fuel mileage was, uh, not so great
at an advertised 15 miles per gallon in the city and 23 mpg on the highway.The Hyundai warranties, per usual, are
excellent.

Remember that this 2014 Equus is an
upgrade of a previous-generation car, but upgrade doesn’t really cover it.Quantum leap is more appropriate.

Would I buy an Equus against
comparative hardware made by Lexus, Acura, Infiniti or Mercedes-Benz?I’m not sure I can answer that, but the fact
that the Equus is even in that discussion speaks volumes.

The Equus is what I’d call “Hyundai
to the Max,” and yeah, the max is pretty magnificent.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Check out my review of the
2014 Lexus IS 350 AWD F SPORT sedan in the latest, April 2014, edition of theNorthern
& Central California Cruisin’ News, published out
of Folsom, California,
by John Sweeney and Evonne Sotelo.

The “Hot Laps”
reviews, along with my "Oil Drips" observations on anything with
wheels, appear monthly in the publication.

To subscribe to
the Cruisin’ News, visit http://www.cruisinnews.com, call (916) 933-0949 or
send an e-mail request to cruisinnews@mac.com. Mailed requests for information
should be sent to Cruisin’ News, P.O.
Box 1096, Folsom, CA 95763-1096.

You can call it the new ’Bu, or the
2014 Chevrolet Malibu 2LT sedan in my case.There is plenty to like in this Chevy, but I think you have to begin
with the starting price – a most alluring $25,215.

Yes, that’s the kicker.Most folks might look at this car and think
$30,000, but they likely start reaching for their checkbooks at 25-grand,
especially when taking in the numerous perks that are part of the deal.

Let’s start with the exterior skin,
a very nice upgrade from the previous version.

Designers tweaked the front end
with a more prominent, lowered grille, throwing in some very nice-looking black
and chrome accents in the process.This
gives the Malibu
a more sporty look, as opposed to an “I need to run to the store, hon”
four-door errand runner.

In the interest of full disclosure,
my Malibu
tester was dressed up with extras that bumped the bottom line on the sticker to
more than $30,000.But I can state
straight up: I would have been happy with the standard offerings, period.

And those are plentiful: eight-way
power/lumbar seating in the cockpit, leather wraps on the steering wheel and
shifter, power features to the max, steering wheel controls, a full run of
high-tech audio connections and some very cool blue ambient lighting.

Another bonus: Roomier in the back
seats.My volunteer passengers couldn’t
stop talking about this.

On the roll, the 2.5-liter.
196-horsepower, four-cylinder engine was spirited enough to handle even the
heavy lifting on city streets and dicey freeways.Handling was one-hand easy.Cockpit noise was minimal.

The suspension was a bump-absorbing
all-star.My time on roads needing
repair was made easy in this tester.

The fuel-saving stop/start engine
technology was not always seamless.I
sometimes got a little bit of a jolt sitting at a traffic light, or starting
forward after a standing stop.This was
not what I’d call a deal-breaker, however.

My patience was likely boosted by
the budget-pleasing fuel mileage ratings of 25 miles per gallon in the city and
36 mpg on the highway.

One thing I’d advise prospective 2014
Malibu buyers:
Take a close look at the standard safety and security features on the
sticker.It’s a very lengthy and
impressive list for a car in this price range.

Looking for an affordable,
American-made midsize sedan stuffed with much more than you’d expect from a car
priced in the 20s?This ’Bu might be for
you.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Mark Glover’s AutoGlo
car reviews also can be seen on the Business page of The Sacramento Bee’s website – via the “GALLERY: Reviews of new cars” link at
www.sacbee.com/business

Sacramento, California
– So, just a few weeks into the major auto racing series, this much is clear to
me.

Nothing.

Really, I mean it.How can you conclude much of anything, given
what we’ve seen so far?

Let’s start with NASCAR.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. posts an
incredibly popular win in the season-opening Daytona 500, and he looks as focused
as I’ve ever seen him.Is he ready to
finally win a series title?In my view,
yes.

But hold the phone. A blizzard of Chase-making
rules changes for this year is adding a dose of mystery to the Sprint Cup
marathon.Different winners every week,
and we’ve been told that winning a race is a virtual write-your-ticket into the
season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup.

But what if a big bunch of
different drivers keep winning?What
does that do to the once-important points race?From what I know now, winning a race seems to have taken priority over
consistently high finishes.

How else to explain Jimmie
Johnson’s pained expressions after seeing victory snatched from his grasp late
in the past two Cup races?

Even so, I’m guessing that Johnson
will win at some point this year and look a little more relaxed the rest of the
way.It’s his title to take away, and as
such, he remains the favorite in my book.

Note to NASCAR: Just be sure to
straighten out the math for me come Chase time in the fall.

IndyCar rolled out a new series
sponsor, Verizon, and a whole lot of folks in different places (and different car
paint schemes) in last weekend’s season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla.

Will Power won the race.Just like old times.And if things go like they have the past few
years, Power or another Team Penske driver will lead the points for most of the
season, only to lose in are-you-kidding-me fashion on the last day of the 2014
campaign.

With Dario Franchitti’s
injury-forced retirement, the next few races set the table for Helio
Castroneves, who stands to become only the fourth driver to win four Indianapolis 500s,
joining A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears.

To be truthful, I have no idea if
Castroneves has the machine to pull it off. And frankly, we won’t know much
about the 240 mph portion of the season until the series goes to Indy in
May.Even the May 10 Grand Prix of
Indianapolis on Indy’s road course probably won’t tell us much about the May 25
main course of sustained speed, aka the 98th running of the Indy
500.

One other note on Indy No. 98: If I
was not driving for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, I would be very concerned about
defending Indianapolis
500 winner Tony Kanaan (pictured) now driving for Chip.Given Ganassi’s letter-perfect team and Kanaan’s
remarkable ability on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval, he’s my early pick
to win the big race.I don’t anticipate
that changing come late May.

Finally, Formula One.Wow, talk about rule changes ruling the
races.With ungodly fuel limitations and
a power plant package so technically complex that it might baffle top engineers
at NASA, predicting the long term F1 future is all but impossible.

After the season opener in Australia, I
thought the race-winning standard might be whoever survives the first two laps
without the engine stopping … or those cars that finish the race before running
out of fuel.

Yes, Mercedes obviously is ahead of
the competition through two races.But
if we’ve learned anything from past Formula One competition, it’s that huge
changes in competitiveness can occur week to week.

Ominous sign: Four-time F1 champion
Sebastian Vettel went from hopeless in Australia
to third on the podium in Malaysia
last weekend.That rate of improvement
from the relentless Vettel would worry me deeply if I was not driving for Red
Bull-Renault.

Auto Enthusiasts

About

Mark Glover has been a professional journalist for 40 years. Since 1984, he has worked for The Sacramento Bee in California's capital city. He was the paper's auto editor from 2000-08, reviewing hundreds of motor vehicles during that time. His reviews currently appear at sacbee.com and in the Northern & Central California Cruisin' News published monthly out of Folsom, California. He is a former director on the board of the California Autombile Museum in Sacramento. A lifelong auto racing fan, Glover has attended the Indianapolis 500 since 1961. He has an extensive Indy 500 collection of programs, tickets and badges.